The BeginningCarter Animal Hospital was opened by Steve Carter in December of 2003. The practice was originally located in the center of Thayne in a small office with two exam rooms and a combined surgery and radiography area. Due to a higher clientele demand, the clinic has moved into a state of the art facility designed by Dr. Carter himself. The hospital is now equipped with a first class small animal boarding facility, grooming services, as well as an indoor equine surgery unit.

Meet the StaffIn addition to an amazing facility, Carter Animal Hospital offers a supportive, compassionate and professional staff:

Steve Carter, DVMDr. Carter received his veterinary degree from Colorado State University in 1981. In 1982, he interned at a private mixed animal practice in Park City, Utah. He has since owned several veterinary hospitals in Southern California and Utah. His experience includes small animal medicine and surgery as well as equine sports medicine and surgery. Dr. Carter is certified to perform the Slocum Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy (TPLO) procedure to repair ruptured cruciate ligaments in dogs, is experienced in small animal orthopaedics and neurosurgery as well. In addition, he was also one of the first general practitioners to employ CO2 surgical laser during surgery in 1996. He is a member of the AAEP, AAHA, CVMA, AVMA, and Fellow of the Veterinary Surgical Laser Society. In his spare time Dr. Carter enjoys riding his mule "Wanda" and utilizing his private pilots license.

Lisa Pachie, DVMDr. Lisa Hofmann Pachie graduated from UC Davis Veterinary Medical School in 1992. She practiced in a mixed animal hospital for 6 years in a rural community of Northern California, treating all types of animals including dogs, cats, pocket pets, horses, cows, sheep, goats, and wildlife. She then started her own equine mobile practice and was very busy the next three years. During that time she also worked at a SPCA spay/neuter clinic two days a week and continued small animal practice one or two days a week at Clearlake Veterinary Clinic. She then moved to Star Valley, WY with her husband Greg, 3 dogs, 5 horses, and a small herd of Corriente roping cattle. In her spare time, she enjoys trout fishing, team roping, and trail riding/packing, and now riding snow machines! Before vet school, Lisa went to Humboldt State for her bachelor's degree and was very involved in forestry . She was a volunteer firefighter in high school and worked for the US Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry as a firefighter/EMT during summers in college. She loves living in the mountains now and thinks Star Valley and the community is a wonderful place!

Owen Black, DVMDr. Owen Taylor Black graduated from Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine in 2009. While attending veterinary school, Owen's areas of interest included small animal and equine orthopedics, and wildlife medicine and pathology. During his senior year, he completed two internships focusing on equine sports medicine and completed a study on the wolf reintroduction into the greater Yellowstone area. Owen also enjoyed working for the college's pet loss hot-line where he served as a counselor for grieving pet owners.Dr. Black was born in Connecticut and began skiing and riding motorcycles at an early age. He attended high school at the National Sports Academy where he trained and competed as a mogul skier. These experiences in high school lead him to spend five years living and skiing in Jackson Hole, WY. During these five years, Owen made several lifelong friendships and met his beautiful wife Leah. In 2001, Owen made the decision to leave Jackson and return to school so that he could complete his lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian. Nine years later, the incredible experiences and friendships he made in Jackson lead Owen, Leah and their two dogs Olive and Rue back home. Today, Owen is excited to be back in the area and is enjoying hunting, biking, fishing, and skiing with old friends while making new friends with the staff and clients of Carter Animal Hospital.

Tom ParisTom is one of the partners in Carter Animal Hospital. He has fulfilled one of his dreams, watching the hospital come to life from the blueprints into a full service animal clinic. He is elated with seeing the ever growing needs of our clients. Tom's animal experience extends far beyond the domestic dog and cat. He worked as an animal trainer for The Living Desert in Southern California training endangered, exotic, desert specific animals including Golden Eagles, Red Tail Hawks, the African Serval, and Caracal Cats. Tom grew so fond of the desert animals that he started a television series called "Discovering America's Deserts" which educated children on the fragile ecosystems. Tom is very happy to be living here in Star Valley. In his free time he works on his ranch that he shares with his 18 pets.

Maggie McCaslin - ManagerMaggie was born and raised in Concord, CA. She moved to Fort Collins, CO in 1999 to attend Colorado State University. She graduated in the Fall of 2005 with a bachelor's degree in Equine Science. While working at the CSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital in the Junior Surgery Department, Maggie fell in love with being a veterinary technician. The post graduation full time job offer from Dr. Carter was a perfect fit. She has been with Carter Animal Hospital since January of 2006 and is still loving it!In her spare time she enjoys horsebackriding, snowmobiling, and playing her guitar. Her family includes her quarter horse Monty, her Quarter Horse X Mustang Coy, her Australian Shepherd Wylee, her Miniature Australian Shepherd Hailey, her rescue dogs Pacer and Twix, her rescue cat Moby and her wonderful husband Casey.

Bridget Jenkins - Veterinary TechnicianBridget is a 1992 graduate of Utica College of Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She has been a Wyoming resident for over 16 years and resides in Bedford, WY with her husband Dirk and two daughters Grayson and Jhett (two future vets). She has been actively involved with horses for over 25 years and has been an avid Pony Club member and supporter as well as a cross country eventer.Bridget is an original member of the Carter Animal Hospital staff and was instrumental in the launch of the hospital in 2004. She has worked as both receptionist and technician since her beginning here at Carter Animal Hospital.

Kelsey Jansen - Veterinary TechnicianKelsey M. Jansen was born and raised in beautiful Jackson Hole, Wyoming. She graduated from Jackson Hole High School in 1998 and moved down to Star Valley in 2005. Kelsey began working in the animal care field in 2002 and became a certified Pet Care Technician in 2003 through the American Boarding Kennels Association (now known as the Pet Care Services Association). Kelsey joined our team in January, 2007 as our boarding facility manager. After 5 years of caring for our client's pets as she does her own, she has moved into the position of veterinary technician and is enjoying putting her new knowledge into works. Kelsey's family consists of her husband Troy, her daughter Riley, her Rottwieller Shatzi and their horses Pistol, Uncle Buck, and Ruegar. She enjoys horseback riding, hunting, camping,and snowmobiling.

Annette Herron - Kennel TechnicianAnnette was born and raised in Murray, Utah and has always had a deep love for animals of all kinds. After graduating from Murray High School, she spent 7 years working in J.C. Penny's Accounting Center in Salt Lake City, UT. During that time she met her husband Jim and had two boys Andy and Nicholas. In 1989, Annette and her family moved to Midway, UT, where she found a job she truly loved: working with animals. After managing a pet store for over four years, she was hired on by Petco in Park City, UT as their Animal Specialist. In 2006, she and her husband moved to Star Valley, which they absolutely love.Annette joined our team in April, 2009. She was thrilled to once again find a job working with animals. She knows how precious family pets are to their owners and she enjoys taking special care of the pets that stay with us so their families can rest assured that they are in good hands. She loves working with the fun, upbeat staff and is grateful to be associated with such caring people. In her spare time she enjoys her own pets which include three cats Squeaks, Tazz and Archimedes, and her rescue dog Butter. She also has a 55 gallon aquarium. Annette loves visiting with her two sons, her daughter-in-law Caroline, and grandson Adrian. She also loves watching the local wildlife, photography, hiking, and hanging out in Teton National Park.

Kelli Oesch - Kennel Technician & ManagerKellie was raised on a farm in Kansas. Being the youngest of five kids, there was always lots of activity going on at her home. Some of her fondest memories are riding her pony, riding steers on Sunday afternoons, helping her dad feed the cattle and her mom's home cooked meals. Learning how to run a tractor, drive a combine, hauling wheat to town and taking meals to the harvest field was the heartbeat of the farm. After marrying her husband Scott, and living in Idaho for 17 years, Kelli and her family moved to Star Valley in 2008. Kelli and Scott enjoy spending time with their kids Emma and Lane. As a family, they enjoy being together, whether it's riding horses, barrel racing, gymnastics, camping, school and church activities, or just being home. Kelli is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the staff at Carter Animal Hospital. The Oesch family feels very blessed to be able to call Star Valley home.